ed; for the trial, after all, cannot weigh much in the
balance against the eternal interests of the dying heathen. HOW MUCH
WORSE IS THE CONDITION OF MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS OF HEATHEN CHILDREN!

The first OBJECTION in the minds of missionaries against sending their
children home, is, that _such a measure seems unnatural_. That it is a
violation of nature, all parents not only admit, but most deeply _feel_.
God has implanted feelings in the breast of natural parents, which
peculiarly fit them to take care of their own children. No other persons
can precisely take their place, and feel the same interest, the same
unwearied concern--the same unprovoked temper and unchangeable love
through good report and through evil report. In a word, no other
persons, however good and worthy, can be _natural parents_. Guardians
can be found, who will feel a warm interest in those children who are
bright, interesting, well-behaved and pious. But to feel properly for
children that are dull, uninteresting and wayward, requires a _parent's
heart_.

That this is the state of the case, is too true to be denied. For
parents, then, to violate this provision of nature, is causing a sword
to pierce through their own bosoms, and the bosoms of their children: to
do it without sufficient reasons, is to act at variance with the God who
made them. In the feelings implanted in the breasts of parents towards
their children, God has established a general rule: has made known his
will, his law, and indelibly inscribed it on the parent's heart.
Missionaries must be able to plead an _exception_ to this general law,
or they will be found to be opposing the will of their Maker. That the
very strong reasons they can urge really justify an exception, is plain
to the minds of many, but not to the minds of all.

Another objection arises from the command binding upon parents to train
up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. It is clear
to the minds of some missionaries, that the spirit of this and similar
commands is complied with when they make provision, according to the
best of their judgment, for the religious education of their children.
By others it is thought, that these explicit commands of God cannot be
obeyed by any arrangement which commits the work to proxy; that there is
risk in committing the work to others; that fully to obey God, parents,
if not removed by death, must _in person_ pray with their children and
instruct them in th